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Fires burning near Royal Gorge, in national park

CANON CITY — Some residents near the 700-acre wildfire burning west of Canon City have been allowed back to their homes.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said today that fire crews worked through the night to build containment lines to help prevent the fire from crossing Highway 50. That allowed authorities to lift evacuations orders along a portion of the road but an unknown number of residents are still out of their homes elsewhere in the area.

The fire has closed the scenic Royal Gorge Bridge and no rafters are being allowed through the gorge.

The fire has burned several structures but it’s not known how many of those were homes.

Farther south, a 4,700-acre fire is burning east of Great Sand Dunes National Park. The park remains open.